my crafty adventures

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Welcome to my blog! My name is Jessica, and I'm a music professor from Kentucky. This blog details my journey into DIY style. I love to sew and knit my own clothes, and I'm a dedicated thrift store shopper! I also love fashion, so I'm attempting to marry my interests without causing myself to go bankrupt. I love bright colors, full skirts, and vintage styles. I love to answer questions, and I can be reached by email at jmills01@gmail.com.

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How can it be 2017 Already?

Greetings! I know, it’s been a literal age since I’ve been here – nearly two and a half years! Where have I been? Well… experiencing a total upheaval of my life situation. I’ve gone through a divorce, and a major career change. It’s been unimaginably difficult, and I’m only now reaching a place where I feel like myself again. And part of reaching that place, was realizing exactly how much I missed sewing and knitting, and my little place here. So, here goes – I’m a little rusty, so please forgive!

I’ve just moved into a fantastic new loft apartment, and I’m in the process of setting up a sewing room. I did not leave my marriage with all of my things, but I did take my sewing machine:

I had to take her to the shop to get worked on – it turns out, if you leave this model of Bernina sitting for too long, the power supply can go bad. But now I’m up and running again! I’m going to start out with a few home decor projects for my new place, since they won’t require a serger (I plan to pick up a serger soon… recommendations are appreciated!)

I’ve been knitting a Hue Shift afghan for a few months, and I’m only now 1/4 of the way finished. I’m a slower knitter than I used to be, mostly because I have to play piano and organ for my day job, and I can’t afford wrist issues. I love the colors!

I also just bought the kit to make the Gravity quilt from Jaybird quilts.

I love the colors of both these projects! My apartment, being in a converted mill with concrete floors, can feel a little cold, so I’m trying to get some color in to brighten things up.

I’m also thinking about sewing my dress for the Kentucky Derby in a few weeks, but I haven’t decided yet on a pattern. I’ve missed so many new releases!

There’s going to be a re-learning curve for me – the first time I used my machine again, I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t work – and the presser foot was up! Oops. And I had to remember how to cast on for my afghan, necessitating Youtube tutorials. Sometime in the past few years, that info just fell out of my head, but I’m excited to learn it all over again.

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44 thoughts on “How can it be 2017 Already?”

So pleased to see you back. I always really enjoy your posts but rarely comment so I wanted to take the opportunity to say ‘Welcome back, I’ve missed you!’. Sewing is the perfect way to find calm and you’ve got plenty of new releases to choose from. What a great new beginning for you.

What a delightful treat to check my email and see a post from the Green Apples blog! Yours was the very first sewing blog I found, and I always enjoyed reading about your sewing and knitting creations, as well as your life in general. Welcome back from your long hiatus and best of luck to you in this new stage of your life.

Again I am so pleased to see your blog return. As in the post from Jessie yours was one of the first blogs I followed and I still use some of suggestions and tips. good luck with everything and I look forward to reading more.

What a nice surprise to see a blog post from you in my blog reader! I rarely comment but I wanted to wish you a warm welcome back. When I started sewing again six or seven years ago, I avidly read your blog to get tips and advice. As a sewer, knitter, and quilter, I love seeing what others are making.

So good to see a post from you (although I’m sorry to hear about the tough times you’ve been through). Like a few of the other people who have commented here, yours was the first sewing/knitting blog I ever read, and I loved it. Welcome back.

Gosh I was thinking of you/your blog the other day and wondering what you were up to. Sorry to hear about the divorce though. Good luck with relearning your sew and knitting skills – you’ll be away before you know it!

I’m so glad to see you’re back, Jessica! Your knitting projects have inspired me again and again, and I’ve even used many of your sizing adjustment suggestions when making my own. I think I can speak for many of us when I say we missed you and hoped you were doing alright. Looking forward to the many new lovely projects you’ll create!

Welcome back from me too. Also not a big commenter but I’m glad to see you’ve conquered some life things and getting back into things. I love the look of your apartment and the colour you are going to put into it.

So wonderful to see you back, I’ve missed your blog. Like the others, your blog was one of the first I ever followed and I’ve always checked back to see if it’s been updated. What a great surprise I got when I checked tonight. I wish you well in this new chapter of your life and can’t wait to see your new makes.

Welcome back! Like some others have said, you were one of the first sewing blogs I discovered, too, so I feel very fondly towards you, if that doesn’t sound too odd! I love the afghan you’re working on. What fantastic colors. I had no idea that Berninas acted up if you don’t use them — my mom hasn’t touched hers in a while, so this is useful information. Sorry you have gone through so much stuff, but best wishes for a great present and future!

I’m very happy to see you’re back! If you’re looking for a serger, I recommend the Juki MO-654de. It’s pretty affordable (I got mine used on eBay in excellent condition) and has great reviews. I think there are some other bloggers who use that model as well.

Like many who have commented before me, I say”Welcome back! You have been missed!” I am sorry for your personal upheavals, but wish you the best in this new phase of your life journey. I will look forward to once again reading your blog regularly.

It’s good to see you back! Sorry to hear that you’ve had some tough things to deal with – wishing you all the best for this new chapter, and looking forward to reading your blog again (as with others, yours was one of the first I read, and got me into sewing!).

I’m joining the other voices to welcome you back too! My blogging has been sporadic since my divorce because there are so many other life changes connected to that one word! I hope that you are able to be comfortable and happy in your new space (it looks cool) and enjoy getting to know your sewing machine again 🙂

So happy to hear from you! I’m sorry to hear about the personal changes but hope at this point you are feeling more settled and peaceful. Like many of the commenters yours was the first sewing blog I ever read. I’m happy you’re back!

What a treat to see post from you, welcome back. Sorry that you have had such a tough couple of years, I hope the next few are happy and tranquil. Good luck with getting back into sewing, the flat looks beautiful!

What a pleasure to see a post from you! You are one of my favorite bloggers from back when I was discovering the online world and falling in love with sewing. My creative endeavors have helped me come back from some had knocks. Here’s hoping they work their magic for you.

Welcome back! I missed you too – I don’t think I ever commented much before but I have definitely thought of you several times in the last two years and wondered if you were doing ok. I’m sorry to hear that they were hard times. It’s wonderful to hear from you again, and I recognise that rusty needing to remember things again time! It’ll come flooding back I’m sure.

You’re back, you’re blogging again!!! I am delighted to see it. I must say that I thought of you every so often and hoped that you’re okay. I always enjoyed your blog posts a lot and missed them. I am very glad that you are around and sounding optimistic about the future, or at least productive. It often means that we’re in a better place when we are back to being able to create things, I’ve certainly been in places emotionally when I didn’t pick up even my knitting. Welcome back and my very best wishes and thoughts go to you.

Your loft looks wonderful. The quilt will look fantastic in it, the colours are so gorgeous and wonderfully bright: it’ll be stunning! I am rather excited to hopefully see your progess on this quilt, fingers crossed. And good luck too for the garment sewing!

I am very sorry to hear that you weren’t able to save all your sewing things. It is not really a silver lining thought but maybe you left some things behind that burdened you (I’m thinking of my fabric and yarn and quilting stash), I don’t know if that might be the case. But shame about the things you could do with. Hopefully you’ll be able to get precisely those things that are useful and that you’ll enjoy using. I wish you happy sewing!

So happy to see you’re back! I was hoping you’d start blogging again, so I saved your link to check back occasionally. I’m excited to read about your crafty ventures again. I’m so sorry to hear you’ve gone through a hard time.